Bones
by PFTones3482
Summary: Dorothy Ann and Carlos are scheduled to present their class projects about the leg bones today, but of course Carlos doesn't show up to school. D.A. is pretty annoyed, until Ms. Frizzle informs the class that he has a very good reason to miss. One shot.


**Bones: Because I really love Mikey and Carlos' relationship.**

 **I wrote this a while ago and tbh I'm not sure why I never posted it? Mikey still isn't a character option and it's annoying.**

 **I don't own The Magic School Bus. I can't wait to see how the Netflix reboot of it goes!**

* * *

GENERAL POV

* * *

Dorothy Ann basically sprinted into Ms. Frizzle's classroom just before the class bell rang, her eyes scanning the room.

Today was the day the students, who had been paired into groups of two, were going to present their projects on parts of the body. Each group had been given one part to deal with: Keesha and Tim had gotten the head, Ralphie and Phoebe the arms and hands, Arnold and Wanda the torso, and Dorothy Ann and Carlos the legs and feet.

As she surveyed the room, though, D.A. clenched her fists when she didn't see Carlos. "Darn it!" she said in annoyance, stomping a foot. "He just had to be absent the day of our presentations, didn't he? He's so annoying!"

Keesha glanced up from hers and Tim's model of the skull and walked over to her best friend. "He's probably just late, D.A. Ms. Frizzle isn't here yet, so you still have time."

As if on cue, Ms. Frizzle stepped into the room, wearing a dress covered in dancing skeletons with top hats and canes and earrings that were shaped like hearts (not the human heart; even Valerie thought that would be a little creepy).

Dorothy Ann groaned and sank into her seat, putting the poster board that she and Carlos had spent three hours making on the desk. "Ms. Frizzle, Carlos isn't here yet, and we worked really hard on this!" she cried in desperation.

Valerie nodded, glancing at Liz and allowing the reptile to hop onto her arm. "I know, D.A. He has a very good reason for why he can't come to school today."

"He does?" the entire class chorused, putting down their various projects.

Ms. Frizzle nodded and leaned against her desk, pursing her lips. "You all remember Mikey, right?"

The kids nodded, glancing at one another in confusion. Ms. Frizzle continued. "Do any of you know why he has to be in his wheelchair?"

Tim, who had been friends with Carlos since they were toddlers, tilted his head. "Isn't he paraplegic?" he asked, his voice firm but his face uncertain.

Ms. Frizzle smiled lightly. "Correct, Tim. Does anyone know what that means?" she questioned, looking straight at Dorothy Ann.

The girl knew why and she gulped. "It means that the legs are really weak, because of a spinal problem or something similar. It can cause things like pneumonia or blood clots in the cells," she whispered, looking down and suddenly realizing why Carlos had known so much about the functions of the legs. He had done nearly their entire report; D.A. had just double checked his facts.

They were almost always correct.

"Exactly, Dorothy Ann," the teacher said. "He also has a lot of pain in his lower legs, and since he rarely uses them, the bones are very weak and can break easily."

The kids looked at each other, growing more and more concerned for their classmate's sibling. "Ms. Frizzle?" Wanda asked. "What does this have to do with Carlos being absent?"

Ms. Frizzle pressed her hands together. "I'm glad you asked, Wanda. This morning, Mr. Ramon called me from the hospital and said that last night, when they were coming home from dinner, the wheelchair lift on their van snapped and Mikey fell on the ground. Since he was strapped in, the wheelchair fell on top of him."

Her eyes grew somber, something that rarely happened with Valerie Frizzle. The kids had gone completely silent and Phoebe's lower lip was trembling. "The weight of the wheelchair nearly crushed his legs, and he's in the hospital having surgery. Carlos and his father are there now, because Carlos didn't think he could handle doing a report on legs of all things."

D.A. gulped, feeling immediate guilt for being mad at Carlos for his absence.

"Is Mikey going to be okay?" Ralphie asked, the question on every student's mind.

Ms. Frizzle nodded, trying to be as honest as possible with her class. "They think so. He probably won't ever walk again, though. He used to be able to stand and walk for brief moments of time, like when he was moving to his bed or another chair, but the doctor told Mr. Ramon that he doesn't think that will be possible anymore."

A heavy silence filled the room once more, only broken by Phoebe's sniffling. "Ms. Frizzle?" Keesha said softly. "Can we go visit them?"

Ms. Frizzle smiled warmly. "I think that's a great idea, everyone. To the bus!"

The kids scampered out the door, save for Dorothy Ann, who just stood frozen at her desk. Arnold paused in the doorway and turned back. "Come on, D.A.," he said, smiling sympathetically.

D.A. gulped and grabbed her bag of books before remembering they were all about bones. She left it where it was after only a moment of hesitation and ran after her classmates, guilt eating her from the inside out.

* * *

Carlos sat on the floor, his knees drawn up to his chest and his elbows resting on the knees, his hands digging into his hair. His father had just gone down to the cafeteria to get them some kind of breakfast, and had ordered Carlos to stay put in the waiting room.

The boy gulped and struggled to reign in his tears. What had happened with Mikey was all his fault, he knew it. His brother would never have the opportunity to walk again and he was to blame for it.

Carlos shivered and wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his chin on his knees and allowing a tear to slip down his ashen cheek. Some brother he was. His mom had made him promise to take care of Mikey just before she died, and look where it had gotten his little brother.

"Carlos?" said a very familiar voice.

The boy's head shot up and he wiped away the tear rapidly, his eyes landing on Tim, the rest of his class behind the dark skinned boy. Carlos swallowed and pushed himself to his feet.

"What…what are you guys doing here?" he asked, in no mood for jokes.

Tim glanced back at the class. He had been elected to talk to Carlos, since he knew the boy best, and now he stepped forward, resting a hand on his friends shoulder. "We heard about Mikey," he said softly, "and came to see how everyone was doing."

Carlos flinched and looked away. "I don't know. My dad will be back soon, with food. Mikey…Mikey is still in surgery," he choked out, scowling as his voice cracked.

Phoebe gave a small cry at the sound of the usually happy boy's voice breaking and she ran forward to hug her friend. Startled for only a second, Carlos hugged back tightly, allowing himself to finally break down in the girl's embrace.

The Latino sank onto a hard plastic chair and glanced up at Ms. Frizzle, brushing the tears from his skin. "What if he's not okay, Ms. Frizzle?" the boy whispered hoarsely.

Ms. Frizzle, who had changed her dress (which had not gone unnoticed by the kids in the bus) to one covered in rabbits, her earrings carrots, sat down next to Carlos and put a hand on his shoulder. Liz hopped from Valerie's shoulder and into Carlos' lap, and the young boy wondered what it had taken to get the lizard past the front desk.

"Do you really think he won't be?" the woman asked.

Carlos winced. "I don't know. I…I wish that it wasn't as bad as it was."

"Well," Ms. Frizzle said mischievously, her earrings flashing. The class slowly started smiling. "Maybe we can fix that."

The teary eyed third grader looked up sharply, his face lighting up as bright as the sun. "Really?" he whispered in awe.

The woman smiled, her eyes twinkling. "Class? To the bus!"

"Wait!" Dorothy Ann said quickly. "Carlos, you can't go. You have to stay with your dad."

Ms. Frizzle nodded as Carlos' face fell. "Sadly, she's right. D.A., why don't you stay with him?"

"What?!" the students cried.

"But Ms. Frizzle," Ralphie protested, "they know more about leg bones then the rest of us. Shouldn't one of them come?"

Ms. Frizzle dug into her shoulder bag (decorated with bushes and trees) and pulled out a walkie talkie. "There. Now they can be with us and still be here."

Content, the kids marched off, Liz staying with D.A. and Carlos. The boy pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced down at the floor. Dorothy Ann sat down next to him warily. "I'm sorry," she finally said.

He glanced over at her, his eyes red. "For what?" he asked in confusion.

She gulped and pressed her fingers to her lips. "I um…I was annoyed that you did the whole report with consulting everything, and got mad this morning when you didn't show up. I didn't…I mean, I had no clue why you knew as much as you did."

Carlos held up a hand. "Dorothy Ann. Stop. It's…it's okay. I would have been mad too."

He sighed and buried his head in his hands, trying hard not to show how badly his shoulders were shaking. D.A. hesitated, and then rested a gentle hand on his back, rubbing soothing circles onto his sweatshirt. "Hey. You know the Friz is gonna do everything she can to help Mikey," she murmured.

The two glanced up as they heard the telltale horn of the magic school bus, beeping at them as it flew by, and Carlos gave a sharp laugh. "Yeah, but she can't fix too much, D.A. How would they explain that to the doctors?" he asked her.

Dorothy Ann frowned slightly. "Well, I mean…"

"Mikey would be considered a miracle of modern medicine, and they'd probably take him in for a bunch of experiments. I think he'd rather not be able to walk then have that happen. He likes being a kid."

The book worm sat back in her chair, staring at Carlos. She had never seen him so down and angry before, not ever. Based on every encounter she'd ever had with him, the Latino had never stayed upset with anyone but her for longer than thirty minutes.

She pursed her lips, irritated a little that he got mad at her the most, but said nothing. "When is your dad coming back?" the girl asked quietly.

Carlos rubbed his forehead. "I'm not sure, why?"

D.A. chewed on her lower lip. "Do you want to talk? I know that you probably need to let some stuff out. According to my research-"

Carlos clapped a hand over her mouth. "Nope. None of that. But…yeah. Talking might help. We have to let my dad know, somehow."

After leaving a message with the nurse at the front desk and grabbing the walkie talkie, Carlos and D.A. wandered the hospital, trying to find a quiet place. They finally settled on the chapel, if only because it was empty and had several side rooms that were there for people to have conversations with priests.

Dorothy Ann guided Carlos into one and shut the door, turning to find that he had plopped down in the most comfortable chair in the room. She kept her mouth shut though, and brought the walkie talkie to her lips.

"D.A. to the Friz, how's everything going?"

The electronic device crackled and Ralphie's voice came over the line. "Ralphie to D.A. We got into surgery and are now working our way down the bloodstream to the leg. Trying really hard not to get skewered by medical stuff….I think I'm gonna be sick."

In the background, D.A. could hear Arnold mumbling about how he should have stayed home today and the girl rolled her eyes. "Ten-four. Get back to us when you can."

She set the object down and pulled a chair next to Carlos, sitting down. "So I know we don't always get along," she admitted, staring at her clasped hands, "but you know you can talk to me if something is bothering you, correct?"

Carlos gave her a faint smile. "I know. I'm just not sure where to start," he admitted honestly. "I know what happened is my fault."

Dorothy Ann immediately shook her head. "No way, Carlos. That's not even a little bit true."

He sighed. "I was the one who cleaned the lift the other day. One of the bolts must have gotten loose while I was washing it. Mom always told me to look out for Mikey and then….then I let this happen."

D.A. sucked in a breath. Carlos had never once mentioned his mom to anyone but Tim and Ms. Frizzle, both of whom he had sworn to secrecy. She stayed silent, thinking that might make him more likely to talk.

"And like, ever since Mikey got stuck in that dumb thing, I've made it my goal to help him. Yeah, he annoys me; it's what brothers do but…he knows I'd do anything for him," the boy murmured, his voice cracking, "and he'd do anything for me and geez, D.A., I don't know what I'd do without him!"

D.A. wished she had that kind of relationship with Evan. She and her sister got along, but only barely. She had seen Carlos' and Mikey's relationship first hand, and knew how strong it was. "Carlos? How…how did Mikey end up in the wheelchair?" she asked softly.

Carlos flinched and the girl quickly backtracked. "You don't have to answer, I'm sorry, I just…"

The Latino shook his head. "It's fine. It's just that no one's ever asked," he said simply, shrugging. "They assume he was born a paraplegic. It was a combination of things, really."

D.A. drew her knees up to her chin and gave him a nod to let him know she was listening. Carlos bit his lip before continuing.

"When Mikey was born, he was pretty normal for a baby. Crawled on time and stuff, was super loud, you know. When he was like two, and hadn't started walking, Mom and Dad took him to the doctor, who said that he had a tumor in his spinal cord."

Carlos gulped and rubbed his eyes anxiously, keeping his gaze on the floor. "They tried to remove part of it, and were pretty successful, but it wasn't enough. So he had to get around using crutches and a walker."

The boy shivered. "Pretty rotten for a three year old, huh?"

D.A. didn't know what to say, so she merely nodded. Carlos licked his lips and was about to continue, when the walkie talkie crackled. Dorothy Ann scooped it up. "Yes?" she said, irritated.

"We've reached the inner left leg. The Friz and the others have gone out to try and fix some of the bone structure, while Tim and I stay here and work on the muscles," said Wanda.

"Does Ms. Frizzle know not to go too overboard?" Carlos asked anxiously. "We don't want the doctors poking and prodding and Mikey becoming a science experiment."

There was a pause. "I don't know," Wanda admitted. "Do you think Mikey wouldn't want to walk?"

Carlos' face went white and he sank back in his chair, shaking. "One sec, Wanda," D.A. said, taking her finger off the talk button. "Carlos?"

"How do I make that decision for him?" the boy whispered hoarsely. "I…he's never said that it bothered him, but how do I know for sure?"

"You know," Dorothy Ann reminded him softly, "you don't _have_ to tell him the class fixed up his leg."

Carlos winced. "But I tell him everything," he protested. Seeing D.A.'s look, he sighed. "Tell Wanda not to fix it completely," he groaned.

Dorothy Ann relayed the message and put the walkie talkie back down. "You were saying?" she prodded him.

He rubbed his mouth and nodded, lowering his gaze again. "Right. Uh…so, he and my mom went out to the store one day. Mikey had just started kindergarten, I was in first grade."

"I thought you were two years apart?" D.A. said in confusion.

Carlos snorted. "In age, yes. Let me finish. So he and my mom go out, right? And my dad has taken me to soccer practice. And when we get home…."

His voice shattered and he buried his head in his hands, trembling. Dorothy Ann pieced together the rest and she winced. "Oh. Carlos, why didn't…I mean, why did you never tell us?"

He shook his head, brushing furiously at tears. "Cause I hate pity, D.A. It's not my thing."

The radio screeched, Keesha shouting over some noise in the background. "Moving on to the right leg!"

Dorothy Ann ignored it and looked at Carlos, her eyebrows furrowed. "Carlos. We wouldn't have pitied you. Sure, we'd be upset, but you should know the rest of us well enough by now to know that we wouldn't coddle you."

A smile twitched on his lips. "Coddle?"

Dorothy Ann punched him lightly. "Yes, coddle. Anyway, I'm really sorry."

She stood up and gestured at Carlos to do the same. He did so warily, not very surprised when she pulled him in for a hug. He let himself relax against her as she rubbed his back for a long time, the two only pulling away when a knock sounded at the door. Carlos tugged one of D.A.'s pigtails and darted out of hitting range, pulling the door open.

He blinked in surprise to see Phoebe standing there, Liz on her shoulder. "Oh, good, Liz was right. Hey, the doctors finished surgery, and we finished our part. Mikey should be waking up in a couple hours."

Carlos leapt in the air, shouting "Woohoo!" and spun the girls around in a hug, kissing D.A. on the cheek and sprinting from the room. The girls stood there in stunned silence and Dorothy Ann slowly raised a hand to her face, blushing bright red.

"What was _that_ all about?" Phoebe asked in surprise.

* * *

When Mikey woke up, Carlos and his father were first in to see him while the class and Ms. Frizzle waited just outside. After nearly ten minutes of anxious, fidgety silence, Mr. Ramon stepped from the hospital room and held out a hand to D.A. "For some reason, Dorothy Ann, Mikey really wants to see you. You as well, Ms. Frizzle. I'll wait with the kids."

"Thank you, Mr. Ramon," the curly haired woman said with a smile. Liz hopped onto Arnold's head and Dorothy Ann and Valerie walked into the room side by side.

Carlos was clutching his brother's hand, talking in a hushed voice and waving his free hand around in the air like a maniac, a smile on his cheeks and in his eyes. The two siblings looked up at the intrusion.

"Hey," Mikey croaked out feebly. "Heard you guys tried to fix me up?"

D.A. blanched. "I thought you…?"

Carlos smiled sheepishly. "I wanted him to know, no matter how mad he got."

Mikey shook his head. "I'm not mad. My wheelchair is annoying sometimes, sure, but it makes me unique. And honestly, I don't think I'd be able to walk very well at this point in my life anyway. But thanks for fixing them enough so that I won't be totally helpless."

The boy laughed, blushing a little. "There's still some things I need to do on my own."

Ms. Frizzle laughed brightly. "I'm glad to see you're feeling okay, Mikey," she said honestly, her eyes twinkling.

Mikey smiled. "Me too. Thanks, you guys. Um…Carlos? Can I talk to D.A. alone for a sec?"

Looking somewhat hurt, Carlos released his brother's hand and followed Ms. Frizzle out the door. Dorothy Ann looked at Mikey in confusion. "What's wrong, Mikey?"

He glanced down, fiddling with the bed sheets. "Um…thanks. You know, for talking to my brother. He told me that he told you what actually happened, you know, to me and our mom, and I know that's not something he tells a lot of people."

D.A. shrugged. "I was startled. I didn't think Carlos liked me at all."

Mikey's head shot up in surprise. "Are you kidding? He never stops talking about you!"

The boy clamped his mouth shut, his cheeks going red, and D.A. blushed furiously. "Oh. Well…then you're welcome. I hope you feel better, Mikey."

He swallowed and gave her a sheepish smile. "I will, thanks to you guys."

Dorothy Ann stepped from the room and, after everyone had spoken briefly to the youngest Ramon, the class, including Carlos, walked back out to the bus and drove back to the school. "So, Ms. Frizzle. What about our reports?" Arnold piped up.

Ms. Frizzle laughed. "We'll save those for tomorrow, Arnold."

The class cheered as they pulled up to the school. Carlos smiled. "Yeah, Arnold. It's not like any _body_ is going anywhere."

"Carlos," the class groaned before breaking into giggles. Carlos smiled impishly and Dorothy Ann punched him lightly on the shoulder.

They were the last two off the bus and as they started inside, D.A. grabbed his hoodie gently. He turned back to her with a confused expression and Dorothy Ann smirked, crossing her arms.

"So," she said mischievously. "What's this I hear about you always talking about me at home?"

Carlos' face went bright red and D.A. giggled and ran for the school, leaving Carlos to stumble after her.

"W-wait, who told you that? Dorothy Ann!"

* * *

 **God I should not ship two third graders so much.**

 ***quietly sits back and waits impatiently for the reboot to come out***


End file.
